Official election results were not immediately available, but Dugatto was the clear winner.

"This win was based on all the Democrats working together with a stable base and following a consistent plan to a T," Dugatto said, adding that she wants to upgrade the city's website and develop a consistent downtown plan right away.

"I would like to congratulate ... Mayor-Elect Anita Dugatto on her win in Derby," Malloy said in a statement. "In Derby, (she) knocked out a seasoned incumbent."

Staffieri, who also owned a downtown business before becoming chief executive, was unable to work his magic in overcoming an underwhelming Republican voter registration: Democrats maintain a 2,663 to 950 plurality in this city of 12,000.

"I'm perplexed. I don't know what happened," said Staffieri, who wouldn't rule out running for office in the future. "I brought taxes down. The city has a AA-minus bond rating. I got projects going.

"Everything is in great shape, much better than when I came in. I ran a stable city," he said. "I wish (Dugatto) well. If she needs my help, I'm here."

And it was the development downtown -- or more importantly, the lack of it -- that played a key role in this year's election.

In April, Eclipse Development Group of California became the latest organization to drop rebuilding plans in downtown Derby. Eclipse had wanted to turn downtown into a 180,000-square-foot village shopping complex, but Staffieri could not entice an anchor store to come.

As a result, Staffieri shifted gears, trying to lure several developers into taking a building-by-building approach to downtown.

She suggested employing the Connecticut Main Street Center Program's approach of organizing business, investors and residents, promoting the area, designing a plan and then implementing it.

In the past few weeks, Dugatto and her campaign manager, state Rep. Vincent Tonucci, D-Derby, brought in U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and longtime U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, both Democrats, to help with the campaign.